Dracula's Bloodlust

I read Dracula by Bram Stoker which I downloaded free from Amazon for Kindle. To be honest, I never had any interest in this novel because I didn’t know anything about Bram Stoker. If I wanted to read a nineteenth century novel, I preferred the usual Dickens, Twain, Poe, Hawthorne or Melville. Stoker didn’t make the list. However, I became curious about Dracula because I have seen it frequently on Amazon’s list of top giveaway novels.

I figured Stoker must have something going for him if his novel is in the Top 5 while I have to hustle the social network to make Top 50 in the giveaway world (Top 10 in Denmark -- go Danish).

Okay, so I broke down and downloaded a free copy just to check if the novel was as good as the old Dracula movies based on the Stoker novel. And to learn any tricks to up my position on Amazon. Afterall, Stoker did something right.

I enjoyed reading Dracula. It has the same kind of appeal to romance readers as the old Dark Shadows TV soap. You know the kind of story that involves the usual “boy meets girl” mixed in with a lot of blood sucking? Lesson 1: Problem Jane Austen never had to deal with: It‘s easy to love your girlfriend while she’s alive but it’s a lot tougher once she’s undead.

Stoker used a first person narration that I like. The entire novel consists of a series of papers supposedly collected by the author from diaries, letters, medical reports and such. The plot is the one you may be familiar with if you’ve watched the old Bela Lagosi vampire movies or any of the more recent remakes such as Francis Ford Coppala’s 1992 version. Other versions you may be familiar with include the 1922 silent classic Nosferatu and Christopher Lee’s 1970 version. There are many others, of course. You can check one list of the top 10 Dracula movies by clicking here.

I write novels with a focus on the strangers and monsters among us. Dracula fits the bill for me. I recommend reading it because it is the classic horror novel of the vampire sub-genre that defines the vampire character in a way that worked for authors and movie makers until a certain romantic glittery teenage vampire moved to Forks, Washington.

Don’t let the nineteenth century publication date fool you. Dracula by Bram Stoker has a delightfully modern feel that touches on a full range of emotions. It’s a must read for those who love a little romance mixed in with their well-sucked neck. To find the novel, do a search on Amazon for it because there are so many versions to choose from.

Speaking of well-sucked necks, well, not exactly, but on the topic of strangers and monsters among us, you may want to visit my writer’s blog for the latest fiction post. You can jump there by clicking here.

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